Shaken guest reveals what was really inside notorious Las Vegas hotel after AI pictures led her to believe she was staying in paradise
When Ariana Patiño arrived at her hotel in Las Vegas, she expected a pristine new resort. But instead, she claims she found a filthy dump.
Weeks prior, she had booked her stay at the Palette Hotel in Vegas through a third party booking site after she said she was enticed by glitzy photos of an expansive pool, glamorous lobby and nice rooms.
The only problem? The Palette Hotel in Las Vegas doesn’t actually exist.
Instead, the address on her booking led her to the Oyo Hotel, a property known amongst Vegas regulars as one of the ‘filthiest’ on the strip.
Following Patiño’s experience, the hotel has been accused of trying to shed its longstanding negative reputation and lure in new customers by creating the listing under a new name – Palette – and using AI-generated photos.
Now, Vegas insiders have lifted a lid on the notorious hotel and the larger impact that Oyo’s approach could have on the already-struggling city and the travel industry as a whole.
Patiño recalled her confusion upon arriving in Sin City only to discover that the hotel she had booked wasn’t real in a recent TikTok video, while sharing a blistering warning to others.
‘We drive to Vegas, we get there, we have the GPS going, but we can’t see the hotel. We’re like, “Where’s Palette?”‘ she recalled.
The Oyo Hotel in Las Vegas has been accused of trying to shed its longstanding negative reputation and lure in new customers by creating the listing under a new name, using AI-generated photos
One woman named Ariana Patiño booked a hotel called Palette but discovered it didn’t actually exist when she arrived in Vegas
‘I was like, “Maybe we took the wrong turn.” We’re driving around and around and we cannot find Palette Las Vegas.’
She explained that she ultimately called the customer service number that was listed on her booking and was told to go inside the Oyo Hotel.
Inside Oyo, Patiño said she approached reception and asked if they knew where the Palette hotel was, and was told: ‘Oh that’s us.’
She claimed the employee then revealed that they had put up a listing under the name Palette to see if it would ‘gain more traction.’
Patiño noted that she had come across the Oyo Hotel while looking for a place to stay and specifically avoided it due to bad reviews.
‘I specifically chose not to book Oyo after reading the reviews, I booked Palette Las Vegas instead, and somehow ended up at Oyo anyway,’ she captioned the video.
In a follow-up, Patiño told an unsettling tale of having to walk up and down 18 flights of stairs allegedly due to a broken elevator, while carrying her luggage, and suffering in the sweltering Vegas heat due to the measly air-conditioning in the room.
She also described what she said was a ‘musty’ smell, ‘dirty’ carpets and broken outlets in the room.
Ariana had booked her stay at the Palette Hotel in Vegas through a third party booking site after she was enticed by glitzy photos of an expansive pool, glamorous lobby and nice rooms. Seen is an alleged screenshot of Palette’s listing shared by Vegas influencer Jennifer Gay. It has since been removed so the Daily Mail could not verify the screenshot
Seen is an alleged screenshot of Palette’s listing shared by Vegas influencer Jennifer Gay. It has since been removed so the Daily Mail could not verify the screenshot
The listing for the Palette Hotel has since been removed from Expedia and Booking.com, both of whom did not reply to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Oyo said the listing under the name Palette ‘went live’ too early by mistake.
‘As part of our broader dual-brand strategy for the different accommodation options at the property, we were evaluating how different blocks, or room categories could be positioned under different brands,’ the hotel company said.
‘However, the listing went live while the related renovations and signage at the property were still being completed.
‘We urgently reviewed how this happened and have taken immediate steps to correct the affected listings and ensure that they are made available only once the relevant renovations are complete.’
It vowed that it was ‘reaching out directly to impacted guests to explain the situation and provide clarity.’
‘Where appropriate, we will offer guests access to the relevant upgraded accommodation options at no additional charge, as well as the option of a refund should they prefer,’ the statement continued.
‘We sincerely regret the confusion and inconvenience caused. Our priority is to do the right thing by our guests and ensure they are treated fairly and appropriately.’
Patiño’s description about her stay at Oyo is not an isolated one. In fact, the hotel has quite the notorious reputation.
Recent reviews describe ‘disgusting’ rooms with ‘hair all over’ sheets, stains on the bedding and mold in the showers.
Back in 2023, data analysts at BitcoinCasinos compiled a list of the 49 dirtiest spots to stay in Sin City based on more 500,000 Tripadvisor reviews.
The address on her booking led her to the Oyo Hotel, a property known amongst Vegas regulars as one of the ‘filthiest’ on the strip
Former journalist-turned-Las Vegas-influencer Jennifer Gay told the Daily Mail that she stays at every hotel in Vegas once a year, however, she will refuse to sleep at Oyo due to its filth. A room at the Oyo is seen
After assessing which hotels contained the highest percentage of keywords linked to uncleanliness, such as ‘dirty,’ ‘unclean,’ ‘filthy,’ ‘disgusting,’ and ‘bed bugs,’ the budget Oyo Hotel was outed as the worst offender.
In total, 28 percent of reviews linked to this hotel mentioned the lack of hygiene.
When former journalist-turned-Las Vegas-influencer Jennifer Gay saw Patiño’s video, she immediately felt an obligation to warn her followers.
She has raked in over 1.2 million followers on Instagram and 1.8 million followers on TikTok by covering all things Vegas and sharing reviews on hotels, restaurants and shows in the city.
She told the Daily Mail that she stays at every hotel in Vegas once a year, however, she will refuse to sleep at Oyo due to its filth.
‘It’s one of three hotels in Vegas I won’t sleep in. It’s extraordinarily bad. I will go in and film but I have yet to find a room that I didn’t believe was a biological hazard,’ she said.
‘There’s a lot of stains, fluids. You can scratch the mattress with your fingernails and this powder flies out. It can’t be healthy to sleep in that, I’m not sleeping in that.
‘It’s incredibly run down. Every single thing is gross, it’s not being properly cleaned, at least to the standards that most people would expect. Maintenance is not being done. The elevators are always in the state of disrepair.’
She recalled seeing Patiño’s TikTok and thinking: ‘You can change the name of a hotel, the problem is, they’re representing it as a separate entity with fake pictures.’
She immediately decided to post a video about it on her account, which went viral, gaining more than 827,000 views. She also booked a stay at the Palette Hotel to check it out herself.
Within a day, the listings were taken down, her reservation was canceled and she was refunded with no explanation.
Gay told the Daily Mail that Oyo’s move could be the start of a larger problem that every traveler should be aware of.
‘Are you still getting a hotel room? Yes. Is it what you thought you were getting? No,’ she said.
‘It’s a very slippery slope when we start expecting the consumer to triple refence everything. Especially when you think a site like Expedia and Booking.com are reputable.
She said: ‘There’s a lot of stains, fluids. You can scratch the mattress with your fingernails and this powder flies out. It can’t be healthy to sleep in that, I’m not sleeping in that’
Gay told the Daily Mail that Oyo’s move could be the start of a larger problem that every traveler should be aware of. The bathroom in a room at the Oyo is seen
Gay added: ‘Maintenance is not being done. The elevators are always in the state of disrepair’
‘This shows anyone can create a listing without further vetting. This is a big concern. Clearly Oyo didn’t provide proof that this hotel existed, but they were able to collect money as if it did.
‘This feels like a massive violation of trust and puts a huge responsibility on the consumer to do research. This is incredibly dangerous.
‘We’re blurring the lines on how much information a consumer is entitled to and whether or not that information has to be accurate.’
The Oyo, where rooms cost roughly $60 a night, first opened in 1973 and changed ownership many times; most recently, it was the Hooters Casino Hotel from 2006 until 2019, when it was purchased by Oyo Hotels & Homes.
It is located east of the Strip and next to the former site of the Tropicana resort, which is now being turned into a $2 billion ballpark.
‘This hotel is going to be one of the most lucrative properties in Vegas in a couple of years [when the ballpark opens]. It is right outside the main gate of the stadium,’ Gay pointed out.
‘There’s a lot of belief [among Vegas regulars] that the intent isn’t to invest any more money into the hotel and hold onto it until it can sell at a premium, but unfortunately they’re still allowing guests to stay there in the meantime.
‘This is the thing about Vegas, you can have a hotel with reviews saying [horrible things] and if the price is low enough, there’s still certain people who will say, “I just need a place to lay my head I’ll book it anyway.”
‘So OYO stays pretty busy even though it’s horrendous. I think it was partially motivated by them trying to escape their reputation but I don’t think they were [desperate] for bookings so much that it was the only motivation.
‘I think it was also an attempt to create a portfolio of what this property could be worth because they’re courting potential buyers since it’s adjacent to a new stadium. I think it was a marketing attempt to show the possibilities of the property, maybe exploring a rebrand, sort of playing with, “What can we do with this space and what can we get away with?”‘
